ain how Saxons sing
Of Hell's dire gloom and Heaven's glow

So shall the meed of fame be thine,
The glistening bay-wreath green and gay;
Thy poet, too, though weak his line,
Shall frame for thee th' approving lay.

Longing for some profession in which his proper work would give exercise
to the faculties which he most delighted to cultivate, my cousin
resolved on becoming candidate for a Gaelic Society school--a poor
enough sort of office then, as now; but which, by investing a little
money in cattle, by tilling a little croft, and by now and then emitting
from the press a Gaelic translation, might, he thought, be rendered
sufficiently remunerative to supply the very moderate wants of himself
and his little family. And so he set out for Edinburgh, amply furnished
with testimonials that meant more in his case than testimonials usually
mean, to stand an examination before a Committee of the Gaelic School
Society. Unluckily for his success, however, instead of bringing with
him his ordinary Sabbath-day suit of dark brown and blue (the kilt had
been assumed for but a few weeks, to please his brother William), he had
provided himself with a suit of tartan, as at once cheap and
respectable, and appeared before the Committee--if not in the garb, in
at least the many-coloured hues, of his clan--a robust manly Highlander,
apparently as well suited to enact the part of colour-serjeant to the
Forty-Second, as to teach children their letters. A grave member of the
Society, at that time in high repute for sanctity of character, but who
afterwards, becoming righteous overmuch, was loosened from his charge,
and straightway, spurning the ground, rose into an Irvingite angel, came
at once to the conclusion that no such type of man, encased in
clan-tartan, could possibly have the root of the matter in him; and so
he determined that Cousin George should be cast in the examination. But
then, as it could not be alleged with any decency that my cousin was
inadmissible on the score of his having too much tartan, it was agreed
that he should be declared inadmissible on the score of his having too
little Gaelic. And, of course, at this result the examinators arrived;
and George, ultimately to his advantage, was cast accordingly. I still
remember the astonishment evinced by a worthy catechist of the
north--himself a Gaelic teacher--on being told how my cousin had fared.
"George Munro not allowed to pass," he said, "f